Page 1 of Fractured (Royal Sins #3)

The Ice Queen had guards she did not need to follow her every step.

A few of her personal detail had been with her for over five decades now.

She’d taken most to her bed as lovers one night or a few when she needed it, but she’d never before had to escape them, trick them, get rid of them for a while, like she did this night.

It had excited her, the idea, the way flowers and books used to excite her before the prophecy. It excited her the way every first day of a month did, when suiters came to express their loyalty to her and their willingness to be tested.

None had ever come close to her standards, of course, but it had entertained her to watch countless noble men mold themselves into whichever shape they thought she would approve of.

Though nowadays she sometimes wondered if she’d just chosen.

Nowadays, she wondered if she’d have to do what she’d already done to herself the night before, if she’d chosen a king, and perhaps given birth to an heir .

Such an unroyal thing to not want children. She’d never admitted it to herself simply by claiming she would when she found the right partner, even if she knew that wasn’t true. It had always made her feel…less. Like she was committing an unforgivable sin by not wanting offspring.

And maybe with good reason.

Maybe things would have been different if she’d only accepted. If she’d only settled.

Maybe now, she, too, would have a son who almost reached her waist, though she was sure his hair would be white, not black.

Maybe now, she, too, would have a son with wide eyes and small hands and tiny shoulders that were just waiting for the right time to triple in size, possibly within weeks—like those of the boy standing in front of her.

Or maybe, she’d have a daughter.

Wide teal eyes and long white hair and lips the color of pale winter roses.

She almost saw it—a younger, much softer version of her own self. A daughter who felt and thought and led the way her people deserved.

If only the Ice Queen of the Frozen Court had settled.

But she hadn’t. And the boy in front of her now with messy black hair and wide, fearful eyes wasn’t hers, but he was the most important man in her life, nonetheless. He was the one who was going to end it all.

The fear, and the misery, and the wait.

The weakness that had plagued the Ice Queen since the day she’d heard the prophecy.

No more.

“Tell me your name, boy.”

She knew the boy’s name well. He leaned back at the sound of her voice, but the fear in his eyes faded a bit, and it was replaced by what the queen was certain was curiosity.

She did so respect a curious mind, always had.

“Rune,” the boy said in a whisper, and it was the truth as the Ice Queen knew it.

“And I am Veyra.” She leaned down a bit, wanting to make him feel a little more comfortable. After all, she wasn’t here to hurt him—and she did feel bad for the boy.

No father. No mother.

He was all alone—just like her.

They were both alone now, too—she’d created the perfect illusion of herself for her guards, had shielded her body to perfection as she walked away from them, and it had been easy.

Here, in this corridor near the wing of the help in the Midnight Palace, she and the boy were truly alone.

“You…you called for me.”

The Ice Queen smiled. The boy looked at her lips stretching like he’d never before seen a more curious thing.

It pleased the queen greatly. “I did. You saw my bird,” she whispered and raised a fisted hand between them. When she opened her fingers, a small bird made out of white light glowed in the center of her palm.

The boy was mesmerized by it as he nodded and did not look away until the queen took her fae light shaped like a songbird underneath her skin again. She enjoyed his fascination, but there was only so much time at her disposal before she needed to be in the presence of others.

They still had a lot to talk about, she and the little boy.

“I’m glad you decided to follow it,” she said and straightened up again, reached for the handle of the door to her right—an empty room where they could talk in peace, away from prying ears .

“Am I in trouble?” the boy asked, and the queen smiled again—she hadn’t smiled so often in such a short time for a while now.

“Absolutely not. I merely want to talk to you,” she said, her voice soft, sweet. Her own ears had missed the nuance.

“About what?” the boy asked, and the fear was all gone now—he believed the queen when she told him he wasn’t in trouble. He believed her right away.

“Tell me something, Rune. Do you know who you are?” she asked. “Do you know who your father is?”

Eyes wide and suddenly dark. Lips parted. Small hands fisted tightly.

The boy tried to speak, and when he couldn’t, he only shook his head.

The Ice Queen pushed the door of the empty storage room open. “Come, Rune. Let’s sit down. I have a very important story to tell you.”

Together, the Ice Queen and the Midnight boy walked into the room, closed the door and sealed it shut.

They remained in there for a long time.

When they came out, neither of them was ever going to be the same.